


the temptation of a sweeter fate

by ShowMeAHero



Series: no path runs smooth [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Family, Fix-It of Sorts, Flirting, Fluff, Humor, Kid Fic, M/M, Parent-Child Relationship, Post-Season/Series 02, The Force
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:27:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28232412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShowMeAHero/pseuds/ShowMeAHero
Summary: "I don't know what game you're playing, here, but you know you have to go with the Jedi. This is your destiny.""Luke." Din looks up to the Jedi, scanning him through his visor. As if he can see his face — and Din hopes even the most powerful Jedis can't see through beskar — the Jedi smiles at him again. He clarifies, "The Jedi? Has a name. I'm Luke Skywalker, Din Djarin."
Relationships: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker
Series: no path runs smooth [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2068683
Comments: 81
Kudos: 1558





	the temptation of a sweeter fate

**Author's Note:**

> my brain? is a pea soup
> 
> i wrote this on my phone in the last few hours of my birthday, please clap
> 
>  **EDITED TO ADD:** the response to this fic is already so kind that i made this the first part of a series so people can subscribe if they'd like to see when i add to it!!!!

Din wasn't sure what he expected.

He had expectations. In his imagination, he would see the kid — Grogu, he reminds himself, because names matter — often, and soon. He didn't let himself hope, but he thinks about it.

He's got a lot of time alone to think, now, obviously.

What he's not expecting is for the Jedi to show up the very next day. He lands his ship beside the nearly-empty cantina Din's found himself in. It bothers Din, that he found him so easily, but when he sees the kid in his arms, it's a question that answers itself.

"What's the problem?" Din asks. The Jedi holds Grogu out, no hesitation, and Grogu lifts his arms. Din hadn't known the next time he'd see him. He reaches for him, too, and the Jedi passes him over, Grogu settling right back against his chest, patting at his chest over his armor.

"You look just fine, kid," Din says. He examines him briskly, thumbing along his ears with his gloved fingers, checking the back of his head.

"He's not harmed," the Jedi tells him.

"Then why'd you come back?" Din asks. "Is he misbehaving?"

The Jedi smiles, when Din looks up to see why he hasn't responded. "You're a good father." His smile turns more indulgent, and his eyes turn on Grogu. "No, he's well-behaved, and already shown himself to be powerful. He's also very articulate, and he made it clear that he'd like to come back to you again."

Din looks down to Grogu again, examining his face. He likes to think he's gotten a good read on him, come to understand the kid's body language even if he doesn't fully understand the kid, really. He just looks pleased — not agitated, not upset, not hurt. Just delighted, like he's gotten something he wants.

"Did you leave something on the ship?" Din asks Grogu. The kid pats Din's armor again, and it shakes, vibrating. When Grogu focuses, he coos softly, then whimpers; Din wonders what he's doing before his whole body slides forward several steps. Grogu looks even more pleased with himself. "I don't know what game you're playing, here, but you know you have to go with the Jedi. This is your destiny."

"Luke." Din looks up to the Jedi, scanning him through his visor. As if he can see his face — and Din hopes even the most powerful Jedis can't see through beskar — the Jedi smiles at him again. He clarifies, "The Jedi? Has a name. I'm Luke Skywalker, Din Djarin."

This is a name Din thinks he's heard. Hearing his own name makes his skin feel electric, but Grogu wordlessly coos again, and Din knows why the Jedi knows this, beyond any invasions of privacy.

As if sensing his distraction, Grogu forces him forward another two steps, yanking his attention back to the kid and to Luke.

"Kid," Din tells Grogu firmly, holding him up to his face so his visor and the kid's eyes are at the same level. "You have to go with Luke. You know that."

"He mentioned a few things to me," Luke says. Din settles Grogu against his shoulder again.

"Did he?" Din asks. "Anything good?"

"I didn't realize quite how young he was," Luke tells him. He motions to a few low barrels stacked up alongside the outside wall of the cantina, and Din allows himself to be led to sit. The barrel creaks under the weight of his armor. By comparison, the Jedi looks like he glides to sit, hardly making a sound as he comes to the spot right beside Din in a rustle of robes. "My master is one with the Force now, and he was of the same species. I suppose I didn't realize how old he really was. My students are older — not quite as powerful, but slightly more… Well, capable."

Din prickles. The instinctive need to defend the kid rises, and he says shortly, "He's capable."

"He's not incapable," Luke amends. "But he's still an infant in most meaningful ways, and he's bonded to a parent."

"What does that mean, that you won't train him?" Din demands. Part of him wants that, desperately, but it's too selfish. As much as the kid means to him, his destiny is to be a powerful Jedi, trained by other powerful Jedi, and Din isn't one of them. "You have to. He needs the—"

"I intend to train him," Luke cuts him off. Din lifts his head to study him through his visor. "But he would like to ask you to accompany him."

Yet again, Din isn't sure what he expected, but he's sure it wasn't that. The handsome face of the Jedi is innocuous, just looking right back at Din like an open book, waiting for an answer when he hasn't even asked a question. He's got a job. He's a bounty hunter, he's a Mandalorian. If this shit's all real, he might be the king of Mandalore, but he wants nothing to do with that. Any of that, actually.

Grogu murmurs, wordless, but he's just drawing Din's attention. When Din tilts his helmet down so the kid knows he's shifted to look at him, now, Grogu reaches up and pats near his cheek. He lifts his other hand to point towards the Jedi's X-wing, still cooing. Din's armor vibrates again.

"You want me to come with you?" Din asks. Grogu looks so happy, Din wants to groan. "That's not exactly advisable, kid. I'm not a Jedi. I can't use the Force like you."

"But you're his father," Luke points out. "That's just as important. A Force user has to be properly balanced in order to become truly powerful, and part of that comes from their family." Luke reaches out, strokes the back of a finger down Grogu's small cheek. He looks to Din once again. Din couldn't tell before, the last time they'd met, but Luke's eyes are shockingly blue, even through the visor. The way Luke's looking at him makes it feel like Luke is truly  _ looking  _ at him, and Din's skin thrums under his armor, his veins rushing with heat. It's strange and he feels the need to act on wild impulse rear its head again. His entire life, he's been terrible at rejecting that need. Grogu and everything that's come with him is evidence enough of that.

"So, if he doesn't have a good home life, he'll turn to the bad side?" Din asks.

"The Dark Side," Luke tells him, "and it's not a certainty. Nothing is. But your love and support will go a long way towards helping him grow, whether or not you're a Force user. He's still a child in need of a parent."

Din can  _ feel  _ himself leaning into wanting this. It's always dangerous to let himself want anything, to feel things,, but that doesn't stop him. He just has to work harder to repress them.

"I'm a little hard to disguise," Din points out.

"You can live by yourself, if you'd like," Luke says. "I have a school, a temple. We have houses. You could build your own."

Grogu exclaims excitedly, tapping at Din's heart, tipping back to get a better look at Luke. He reaches for him, small fingers curling and uncurling twice before Luke slides slightly closer on the barrels. Din looks down reprovingly at the kid. In response, all he gets is a soft coo.

"If you'd like to come see the place, you don't have to say yes right away," Luke tells him. "I know it's difficult. Probably very difficult, actually. My sister has a son, only a few years old now, but he's already so powerful, and she's so protective of him. I'm sure you're the same." Luke seems to consider the open air in front of them for a moment. Din doesn't see anything, but Luke gathers himself again, looking to Din and the kid. "It was already… I was already impressed you were willing to hand him over. If you'll give me the day, I can show you options."

Options to stay with his kid.  _ His  _ kid, who hunted him back down even after he'd evaded everyone and hidden himself away. His kid, who guided a man with powerful energy practically rolling off of him in hot waves back to Din for no obvious reason. His kid, who is pushing at the bottom of Din's helmet, trying to grab at his chin underneath again. Din examines Grogu, who just looks back so guilelessly, but Din knows better. He lifts Grogu up, and the kid shifts to lean in, even though Din's still holding him tight. Din presses the kid's forehead to the space above his visor. He knows he needs to give it a shot; the kid is his responsibility and if the Jedi— if Luke says the kid needs a stable parent to be properly trained, then, he must. This is important, Din thinks, even if it's not.

Din strokes Grogu's cheek with his gloved thumb, then separates them. He looks back to Luke and finds him so close. Impossibly, he seems even closer, somehow.

"Let me show you," Luke says. There's nobody out on the street; the sun is high and hot, and the dusty pathways are empty of anyone in view of them. Luke's brilliant eyes shine in that same sun. For a moment, Din hesitates to move. Then, though, he decides to give in. He's supposed to set a good example for his kid, after all. Emotional health or welfare or whatever the Jedi was talking about.

Luke.

"I'd be willing to give it a shot," Din allows. Luke reaches out to Din's hand over Grogu's, pulling it into his own. Between the Jedi's hands, one bare and one gloved, Din feels particularly vulnerable, but Grogu is completely settled, so he doesn't withdraw.

Luke's eyes seem to meet Din's through the visor for a moment before they drift closed. Through Din's open eyes, the orange sand and hot red sunlight baking the planet disappears. Instead, it's replaced by an incredible vision of a lush green forest, a beautiful temple, filled with rows of children of all species, looking to him for guidance, for affection. It's a rush, a thrill, and a comfort, all at once. When Din rushes back into his own mind, the world spins, for a moment, before settling once more into the haze outside the cantina, the Force fading.

"It's not much," Luke says. "But you're welcome to accompany me."

The rush of emotions from the Force still lingers. Din's hand twitches, between Luke's, gloved fingers curling up to wrap around Luke's. Between them, Grogu tries to push them closer, but the rush of air that Din exhales inadvertently makes the kid pause, peering up at his helmeted face.

"I…" Din starts, then stops. "I would be willing to try. If it's that important. To the kid."

Luke smiles yet again. It's been years since Din has met someone so open with their emotions, so pleased with the world around them. Something about Luke feels peaceful and powerful at the same time, magic and magic, and it draws Din in even more than Grogu's little pushes do.

"It's incredibly important," Luke tells him. Briefly, Luke threads their fingers together. Din exhales shakily inside his helmet, inaudible to the Jedi. It takes a moment to gather himself, but he's trained to do it for years, and he does it. "To the kid." One of Luke's hands drifts over Din's helmet, down to his chest, beside Grogu. For a moment, Din bristles, but Grogu reaches out to grip Luke's fingers before he can respond. Luke is still smiling so brilliantly when Din lifts his eyes from their interlocked hands, pressed over his beskar. "And to me."

Din isn't sure what to say, and decides it's safer to say nothing, for now. He wraps his own fingers around Luke's gloved wrist, acting on that damn fool impulse again, and squeezes, just lightly. He doesn't want to scare him or anything, but he wants to  _ show  _ him, like he's been shown. Din may not have the Force, but he can show how he feels in other ways.

"So, you'll come?" Luke asks. Grogu squeals, delighted, happier than Din's heard him in some time.

"I'll try it," Din tells him. Under his fingertips, through his glove and the Jedi's, he swears he can still feel Luke's heat. "What's the worst thing that could happen?"

The Jedi laughs, and Din knows he's making the right call — and, if he's not, one he doesn't think he'll regret, anyways.

"Careful when you say things like that," Luke tells Din, smiling so warmly. "You're just inviting trouble."

**Author's Note:**

> You can (and should!) comment to chat with me, or talk with me about this fic on Twitter at [@nicole__mello](https://twitter.com/nicole__mello) and/or on Tumblr at [andillwriteyouatragedy](http://andillwriteyouatragedy.tumblr.com/).


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